Universal Music and Tokyo Shoseki Collaborate in English Education Field
Universal Music LLC and Tokyo Shoseki Co., Ltd. are collaborating to enhance English education by integrating Universal Music's "UM English Lab." project with Tokyo Shoseki's "NEW HORIZON" textbook. This partnership aims to jointly develop and provide new English learning content using Western music to educational institutions nationwide, fostering an environment where students can understand, use, and enjoy English through music.
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- 📰 Published: April 3, 2026 at 21:00
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Universal Music LLC (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter "Universal Music") and Tokyo Shoseki Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kita-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter "Tokyo Shoseki") will collaborate to further enhance English education and innovate the learning experience. Through this collaboration, they will link Universal Music's English education project "UM English Lab." with Tokyo Shoseki's junior high school English textbook "NEW HORIZON" to jointly develop new English learning content utilizing Western music and provide it to educational sites nationwide.
Main Collaboration Initiatives
The following initiatives are planned for this collaboration:
* Joint development and free provision of "UM English Lab." materials that link with the content of "NEW HORIZON," enhancing the four English skills and deepening understanding of the songs' backgrounds and lyrics.
* Development of teaching support materials that can be directly utilized in educational settings, contributing to the reduction of teachers' workload.
Through this, we aim to create a learning environment where students can "understand, use, and enjoy" English through music.
Example of UM English Lab. Material (Stevie Wonder / *I Just Called To Say I Love You*)
A download link for "UM English Lab." materials, designed to deepen understanding of Universal Music-managed songs featured in "NEW HORIZON," will be installed on Tokyo Shoseki's English education information distribution site, "NEW HORIZON Eigo no Hiroba" (NEW HORIZON English Plaza). These materials can be downloaded and used free of charge by teachers. In addition to various items to deepen song comprehension, the material content includes "phonetic transcription" lyrics supervised by Nipponglish, a native English pronunciation tool developed by Professor Eiichi Yubune of Toyo University, which enables native-like pronunciation simply by looking at katakana. These elements are designed to help users understand and enjoy Western music, and connect it to the development of English proficiency.
Background of the Collaboration
In recent years, English education has placed greater emphasis on developing "practical communication skills" and "proactive learning abilities," increasing the importance of materials that can capture students' interest and curiosity. Music, in particular, is gaining attention as an effective means for students to naturally acquire English expressions, pronunciation, and rhythm while enjoying themselves.
Launched in March 2025, "UM English Lab." is an educational project that leverages Universal Music's extensive catalog of Western music (songs released a certain period ago). By distributing materials using Western songs for free, it strives to reduce teachers' burden while making English and Western music more enjoyable and accessible for children. On the other hand, Tokyo Shoseki, as a leading textbook publisher supporting school education for many years, provides high-quality English education through "NEW HORIZON." It was the "UM English Lab." team's attention to the Western music featured in "NEW HORIZON" that led to this collaboration.
"NEW HORIZON" includes lyrics of Western songs and brief descriptions of those songs, but due to space limitations, the background and detailed information of the songs could not be fully covered in the textbook. However, through this collaboration, for songs in the textbook for which Universal Music holds the master recordings, more in-depth introductions, grammatical points and expressions within the lyrics, and materials supervised by Tokyo Shoseki, featuring "Nipponglish" (katakana that enables native-like pronunciation just by reading it) developed by Professor Eiichi Yubune of Toyo University, will be provided free of charge.
Future Outlook
Through this collaboration, both companies will promote the creation of new value in English education in Japan. In the future, in addition to supporting implementation in schools, they plan to expand learning opportunities using digital platforms and develop initiatives that contribute to the cultivation of global human resources.
For material introduction, download, and more:
https://umj.lnk.to/UMEL_TOKYO
"NEW HORIZON English Plaza"
https://nh.tokyo-shoseki.co.jp/
About "UM English Lab."
"UM English Lab." is an English education project developed by Universal Music. Centered around "English education" and "development of non-cognitive skills" utilizing Western music, it provides free materials using Western music to faculty and staff, while planning, developing, and editing next-generation education. It also functions as a hub/think tank to expand learning together with schools, faculty, and children.
Leveraging Universal Music's accumulated knowledge in music and its track record of providing diverse music experiences relevant to the times, it is pursuing challenges in new educational fields.
With the theme "Making education fun with Western music," it explores the potential of learning through music and aims to create a space where new learning can flourish.
Furthermore, it offers materials applicable in school settings and workshop-style classes (outreach lessons), and previous pilot classes have confirmed effects such as increased motivation for English learning and deeper comprehension.
https://um-english-lab.com/
Company Overview
About Tokyo Shoseki Co., Ltd. / NEW HORIZON
Tokyo Shoseki was founded in 1909 (Meiji 42). With the corporate philosophy of "Nurturing people through education and culture," it has contributed to Japanese education and culture for over 110 years, primarily through textbooks, publishing textbooks and teaching materials for almost all subjects for elementary, junior high, and high schools.
In recent years, beyond textbooks, it has been actively developing new businesses centered on "education" and focusing on promoting educational DX.
It also concentrates on new educational services such as ICT materials and assessment tests, undertaking the social mission of nurturing "people" who will lead the future.
"NEW HORIZON," first published in 1966, has been revised over more than 60 years and is the English textbook most familiar to junior high school students in Japan.
Its characteristic is updating content to match the changing times, with innovations in English songs and digital content to allow each student to enjoy and progress in their English learning in a personalized way.
Universal Music LLC
Universal Music Group nurtures culture through the power of art. Leading the world in the entertainment field with music at its core, it conducts a wide range of businesses including music production, music publishing, merchandising, and video content. It offers the most comprehensive lineup of musical works covering all genres, discovers and develops artists, and delivers many highly acclaimed hit works worldwide. Emphasizing artistry, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit, it works on developing services, platforms, and new business models to enhance the value of artists and provide new experiences to music fans.
Universal Music LLC is the Japanese subsidiary of Universal Music Group.
Universal Music Group www.universalmusic.com
Universal Music LLC https://www.universal-music.co.jp/
Main Collaboration Initiatives
The following initiatives are planned for this collaboration:
* Joint development and free provision of "UM English Lab." materials that link with the content of "NEW HORIZON," enhancing the four English skills and deepening understanding of the songs' backgrounds and lyrics.
* Development of teaching support materials that can be directly utilized in educational settings, contributing to the reduction of teachers' workload.
Through this, we aim to create a learning environment where students can "understand, use, and enjoy" English through music.
Example of UM English Lab. Material (Stevie Wonder / *I Just Called To Say I Love You*)
A download link for "UM English Lab." materials, designed to deepen understanding of Universal Music-managed songs featured in "NEW HORIZON," will be installed on Tokyo Shoseki's English education information distribution site, "NEW HORIZON Eigo no Hiroba" (NEW HORIZON English Plaza). These materials can be downloaded and used free of charge by teachers. In addition to various items to deepen song comprehension, the material content includes "phonetic transcription" lyrics supervised by Nipponglish, a native English pronunciation tool developed by Professor Eiichi Yubune of Toyo University, which enables native-like pronunciation simply by looking at katakana. These elements are designed to help users understand and enjoy Western music, and connect it to the development of English proficiency.
Background of the Collaboration
In recent years, English education has placed greater emphasis on developing "practical communication skills" and "proactive learning abilities," increasing the importance of materials that can capture students' interest and curiosity. Music, in particular, is gaining attention as an effective means for students to naturally acquire English expressions, pronunciation, and rhythm while enjoying themselves.
Launched in March 2025, "UM English Lab." is an educational project that leverages Universal Music's extensive catalog of Western music (songs released a certain period ago). By distributing materials using Western songs for free, it strives to reduce teachers' burden while making English and Western music more enjoyable and accessible for children. On the other hand, Tokyo Shoseki, as a leading textbook publisher supporting school education for many years, provides high-quality English education through "NEW HORIZON." It was the "UM English Lab." team's attention to the Western music featured in "NEW HORIZON" that led to this collaboration.
"NEW HORIZON" includes lyrics of Western songs and brief descriptions of those songs, but due to space limitations, the background and detailed information of the songs could not be fully covered in the textbook. However, through this collaboration, for songs in the textbook for which Universal Music holds the master recordings, more in-depth introductions, grammatical points and expressions within the lyrics, and materials supervised by Tokyo Shoseki, featuring "Nipponglish" (katakana that enables native-like pronunciation just by reading it) developed by Professor Eiichi Yubune of Toyo University, will be provided free of charge.
Future Outlook
Through this collaboration, both companies will promote the creation of new value in English education in Japan. In the future, in addition to supporting implementation in schools, they plan to expand learning opportunities using digital platforms and develop initiatives that contribute to the cultivation of global human resources.
For material introduction, download, and more:
https://umj.lnk.to/UMEL_TOKYO
"NEW HORIZON English Plaza"
https://nh.tokyo-shoseki.co.jp/
About "UM English Lab."
"UM English Lab." is an English education project developed by Universal Music. Centered around "English education" and "development of non-cognitive skills" utilizing Western music, it provides free materials using Western music to faculty and staff, while planning, developing, and editing next-generation education. It also functions as a hub/think tank to expand learning together with schools, faculty, and children.
Leveraging Universal Music's accumulated knowledge in music and its track record of providing diverse music experiences relevant to the times, it is pursuing challenges in new educational fields.
With the theme "Making education fun with Western music," it explores the potential of learning through music and aims to create a space where new learning can flourish.
Furthermore, it offers materials applicable in school settings and workshop-style classes (outreach lessons), and previous pilot classes have confirmed effects such as increased motivation for English learning and deeper comprehension.
https://um-english-lab.com/
Company Overview
About Tokyo Shoseki Co., Ltd. / NEW HORIZON
Tokyo Shoseki was founded in 1909 (Meiji 42). With the corporate philosophy of "Nurturing people through education and culture," it has contributed to Japanese education and culture for over 110 years, primarily through textbooks, publishing textbooks and teaching materials for almost all subjects for elementary, junior high, and high schools.
In recent years, beyond textbooks, it has been actively developing new businesses centered on "education" and focusing on promoting educational DX.
It also concentrates on new educational services such as ICT materials and assessment tests, undertaking the social mission of nurturing "people" who will lead the future.
"NEW HORIZON," first published in 1966, has been revised over more than 60 years and is the English textbook most familiar to junior high school students in Japan.
Its characteristic is updating content to match the changing times, with innovations in English songs and digital content to allow each student to enjoy and progress in their English learning in a personalized way.
Universal Music LLC
Universal Music Group nurtures culture through the power of art. Leading the world in the entertainment field with music at its core, it conducts a wide range of businesses including music production, music publishing, merchandising, and video content. It offers the most comprehensive lineup of musical works covering all genres, discovers and develops artists, and delivers many highly acclaimed hit works worldwide. Emphasizing artistry, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit, it works on developing services, platforms, and new business models to enhance the value of artists and provide new experiences to music fans.
Universal Music LLC is the Japanese subsidiary of Universal Music Group.
Universal Music Group www.universalmusic.com
Universal Music LLC https://www.universal-music.co.jp/